Latest Articles

Gulf War syndrome exists, says scientific panel

Gulf War syndrome, an umbrella term for a batch of neurological disorders experienced by nearly a quarter of the 700,000 veterans of the 1991 war, is attributable to “neurotoxic exposures,” a scientific panel told Congress on Monday. The report specifically points to a pesticide and anti-nerve-gas drug commonly used by the soldiers. The federal government […]

NASA against offshore drilling

“It just makes it more difficult to fly. For safety reasons, we don’t want to be flying rockets anywhere near these things.” — Keith Koehler, public affairs specialist for the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, explaining NASA’s opposition to offshore drilling rigs off the Virginia coast

Obama talks energy on 60 Minutes

President-elect Obama was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night about the election and how he is preparing for the presidency. Obama noted early in the conversation that he’s “talking to top economic advisers about how we’re gonna create jobs, how we get the economy back on track and what do we do in terms of […]

NYT gets goofy on cap-and-trade

An NYT piece on Obama’s priorities manages to get two things wrong on energy policy, both in a short section written by John Broder. First, the overall point is wrong. Broder tries to draw a contrast between "an earlier proposal," Obama’s cap-and-trade program, and what Obama is "now emphasizing," big investments in renewables, energy efficiency, […]

… in my head

News that Obama and McCain are meeting today, along with Obama chief of staff-pick Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), got me to thinking … what might that conversation be like? Obama: John, thanks for meeting with me today. McCain: My friend, it’s a real pleasure. Obama: I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve […]

Dingell implores colleagues to side with him on climate bill

A vote on who will lead a committee key to writing any climate legislation could come as early as this week. With the vote on his chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce panel looming, Michigan’s John Dingell — a longtime thorn in the side of efforts to require Detroit to focus on fuel efficiency […]

In which an argument erupts over electronics disposal

Last night, my fella decided to replace his 15-year-old alarm clock. For the eight years I’ve known him, he’s had to fiddle with the dials and whack the speakers every night as he sets the alarm, so this is something of an overdue miracle. But then there was this: “What are you going to do […]

A concentrated solar BACT for new coal?

I recently listed a bunch of Best Available Control Technologies (BACT) for limiting CO2 emissions from new coal plants, following the landmark ruling by the EPA Environmental Appeals Board. But a leading expert on solar thermal baseload power points out that I left out one potential control technology. Under the auspices of the Electric Power […]

Q: Does Dingell-Boucher have meaningful auctioning of CO2 permits before 2026?

A: No. The Dingell-Boucher climate bill has been criticized by many for having weak targets over the next two decades (see here). And even moderate Senators have doubts about using offsets as a major cost-containment strategy: "The emissions don’t have to be actually reduced," [Bingaman] said. "Instead, everyone can buy offsets that turn out not […]

Why should we assume that a carbon tax will be simple and transparent?

I keep hearing that a carbon tax is obviously superior to a cap-and-trade system because it is “simpler and more transparent.” This has always struck me as a classic case of petitio principii — Latin for starting your argument on third base and boasting about your batting skills. Would a carbon tax proposed and implemented […]